Coming back to publishing after a very long hiatus during which I was
simply too busy to bother, I published a collection of my poems under
my imprint, Junction Press. I was too impatient after all that time
to go through the usual rigamarole of collecting rejections and bad
advice. We most of us get upset at our publishers over design or
distribution, but nowhere near as upset as I became with myself.
Editing and designing books, like writing poetry, requires a large
dose of obsessiveness. Having control over every aspect of a book
(and with no one to say "it's alright, you can move on now") inflated
that obsessiveness way beyond the point where it was useful. I'll
never self-publish my own poems again.
I feel differently about books I translate or edit. Not nearly as
crazy-making. And why shouldn't I as publisher benefit from work that
probably wouldn't otherwise see the light of day?
Best,
Mark
At 01:07 PM 1/10/2010, you wrote:
>Thanks for your answer, but the question was out of curiosity. I'm
>fascinated by the concept of self-publishing and its similarities and
>differences with vanity publishing, and also the phenomena of the
>ebook etc. I don't write poetry myself--never been able to.
>
>
>On Sat, 9 Jan 2010 07:44:00 +0000, Kit Fryatt
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >Sorry to come in to the discussion late. If you're asking the question
>with
> >more than abstract interest in mind -- i.e. you want to self-publish,
>then
> >I'd go ahead only provided you have the following:
> >1. a track record of publication in magazines
> >2. someone prepared to act as editor and tell you honestly what works
>and
> >what doesn't
> >3. means to market and sell the book online, at readings, festivals,
>and so on
> >If you've got those, you've got what most small publishers would
>require and
> >offer anyway, the only difference being you're putting up your own
>money.
> >
> >Good luck,
> >
> >Kit
Announcing The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry (University
of California Press).
http://go.ucpress.edu/WholeIsland
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